Veritaserum
by Alysskea
Summary: Harry is engaged to Ginny, who is pregnant with his second child. Everything is going smoothly until he is reunited with Draco outside of the nursery school.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the first instalment, there is more to post if people actually want it.**

Harry lay in bed staring at the ceiling, his body almost motionless. The nightmares had ended immediately after the war, 7 years earlier. Ever since then, waking up had been an odd experience. He almost missed that tension, that aching feeling of oppurunity, of purpose. Yes, he had had a purpose, his pounding heart told him that. But now he lay there and his heart was steady and rythmic.

The quaint yet large cottage in Stoatshead Hill wasnʼt very well styled as he was reminded every morning as he stared and the peeling gold paint, which clashed with the floral curtains that Ginny had picked out. He had actually laughed at the house at first, but the redhead had insisted on it as she wanted to be near her family at the Burrow. In truth, Harry was wondering why she had bothered moving out at all. She was forever staying nights in her old room, chattering to a pregnant Hermione about details Harry didnʼt want to know and helping Fred Weasley Jr gnome the garden. The Burrow was almost exactly the same as it had been when Harry had first arrived, the same cheerful yet exhausting atmosphere had come back, even after being dampened so much after Fredʼs death.

Harry was scared admit to himself that he never missed Ginny while she was away. Her forceful, demanding nature had once attracted him, but made her impossible to live with somedays. Harry felt sick with guilt at that thought. His fiancee had been there for him in the most difficult times of his life. He had cried on her shoulder more times than he could count. He should be thrilled. He was the luckiest man alive, surely? They had a second beautiful baby on the way, and they were soon to get married. He had dreamed of this. During those lonely nights of the war it was this image that had kept him going. He _did_ want to get married. It was normal to have a slight fear of commitment, surely? He was a man after all.

He heard James crying and walked over to his crib, red and gold. The Gryffindor colours. Harry watched him for a while, waving his tiny arms around. He was beginning to look exactly like his namesake. His black hair and started growing early and was characteristically falling over his emerald green eyes, exactly as his fatherʼs did, and his grandfather. Harry felt a pang almost every time he looked at the baby. He was still in awe of him. Heʼd never loved anything so much in his life. When James was born over 2 years ago he had been ecstatic. It was the same feeling heʼd had when he had first walked into the Hogwarts great hall, but better, stronger. James stopped crying as soon as Harry picked him up. He lifted the baby high in the air and stared into his eyes. He looked exactly like the picture of his grandfather that hung on the wall, he was holding Harry in that picture and Harry now knew why he had that expression on his face. What a beautiful baby.

Wednesday mornings had become blissful for Harry. Ginny had her weekly sleepover with Hermione and Anglelina and he wasnʼt due at work until 6. This meant he got to wake up alone with his son, as well as taking him to Felix Summerbeeʼs, the local Wizarding Kindergarten. There was more than one reasons for this to please enjoyed the walk of course, through the hills. He liked to hear James talk to himself, pointing out the colours of the autumn trees. He also got to see Draco. After the war, he and Draco had come to Harry, right in the middle of the great hall and apologised, in full view of everyone. Yes, he had apologised for everything he had done, Harry had even seen tears in his eyes. Harry had no idea why he had accepted this sudden discerning apology, but whatever it was, it had been the same thing that made him save Dracoʼs life that day. Of course, the two hadnʼt kept in touch. It was only those years later, when little Scorpius had began to attend Summerbeeʼs. Draco and Astoria Malfoy had divorced almost as soon as their son was born, not a soul seemed to know the reason for this for at least 6 months. It was unfortunate for Draco that Astoria Greengrass had aquired a job as a writer for the daily prophet. The secret was out. Draco Malfoy was gay. Of course, Harry understood why he had not let out this secret before. As a Slytherin, heʼd had appear flawless. Indestructable.

Harry couldnʼt help it. To both of their suprise, there had been no awkwardness between two of them whatsoever. Draco smiled now, not the scowl he had displayed before but a real smile, that lit up his baby blue eyes. Both Harry and Draco had arrived early at the nursery. Draco was sitting on the top step, with Scorpius asleep on his shoulder. He looked forlorn and, Harry couldnʼt help noticing, alone. He slowly wheeled the pushchair to the bottom of the steps and lifted James out of it, sitting down next to Draco. Draco turned his head, and Harry was speechless for a second despite himself. Dracoʼs blond hair shone in the orange autumn sunshine and his perfect grey eyes were framed with a set of long black eyelashes. He pulled his perfect lips into a smile "Potter." he said, a familiar mischievous look in his eye. His expression softened "How are you?". Harry looked down, and pretended to straighten Jamesʼ clothes. He wouldnʼt make a fool of himself again.

"Fine." Harry said meekly. "What about you?"

"Alright," Draco smiled. "Thereʼs trouble at the ministry though, my 9 to 5 job has become my 8 to 12."

This suprised him. Since the war, very little had been reported to be going on at the ministry. Draco saw his face.

"Oh, oh no nothing like that. There was nothing doing in the Department of Mysteries where I took my position but there has started to be riots outside the ministry for LGBTW rights."

Harry felt a pang, he wasnʼt comfortable discussing this with Draco.

"So me and Blaise, and that Cho girl we used to go to school with set up an LGBTW department . Being the arrogant tosser I am, I wanted to be at the top, now Iʼve got the Blaiseʼs Department for Bisexual Relations screaming at me on a daily basis and a bunch of hormonal females from Lesbian Communications trying to get funding from the ministry to protest again sexism, sexism!"

He stopped talking on seeing Harryʼs expression.

"Iʼm boring you. Yes, Iʼm alright. Thank you for asking."

Draco leaned in a few centimetres closer, and Harry felt the cap close even more. There was a troubled look in his eyes, maybe even tears. Harryʼs stomach was doing somersaults, he had no idea why.

"Harry?"

"Yes?" Harry leaned closer, and his hand twitched in longing to reach out for him.

Just then, Rose Weasley ran up towards Harry, screaming indistinctive words as kids do and wrapped her pale arms around his neck. _Fuck_. Harry thought. _Shit._Moment ruined. The nursery doors opened and Luna Lovegood stepped out, she smiled at him as little balls of excitement swarmed her lower half, nearly knocking her over as they grabbed her round the knees. He would pretend he hadnʼt seen the smirk Luna had displayed on seeing him and Draco.


	2. Chapter 2

**This one's short, it's just a little filler :)**

* * *

><p>The walk through the hills was less pleasant on his return than it had been setting out. He barely stopped to admire the Fawcett's flamboyant flower displays in their front garden. His was filled with thoughts of a certain svelte blond. What was the emotion he was feeling right now? Harry settled for confusion. He <em>was<em> confused. He was extremely confused right now. This wasn't Hogwarts anymore. Those feelings he had had in his 6th year, those melancholy unrequited feelings, they could not return. He wouldn't let them. He was a straight man who possessed no desire for male ex-Death Eaters.

He was Harry Potter after all. He was the one they looked up to. Ever since he was 11 he had tried his hardest to convince others that he was not perfect. No one ever seemed to grasp the fact that there was only one thing he was really around for and that defeating Voldemort. Having lived out this destiny, he felt quite worthless, even Dumbledore had said that he was meant to be dead by now. He didn't want to be dead, that wasn't the point, but anything would be better than this meaningless, floating existence he had begun to have.

He never spoke to Ginny about any of this, of course, and he hadn't wanted to ruin Ron and Hermione's married bliss with any of his problems. Maybe he was just lonely or something, maybe he needed to get over himself. Harry just couldn't shake the feeling that Draco was the only person he wanted to confide in and he had confided in him in the past. Could it be that Draco Malfoy actually wanted to listen to his problems? No. It's wishful thinking, Harry thought to himself. Besides, Draco I aren't even friends. Just because we aren't enemies anymore doesn't mean I should go around being his friend. But the image of Draco's face in the sunshine stuck in his mind all day.

Perhaps he thought that the night shift at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries would take his mind off things but the night was extremely uneventful. One of the Scamander children had shot fallen off their toy broom, and his brother had attempted to help him by performing a charm which had opened what used to be a small cut into a 5 inch wide wound. He repaired the boy quickly enough, and sat with Luna, who was still wrestling with the boy's twin brother, Lysander. Harry briefly wondered if the boy suffered some wizard form of ADHD as his cousin Dudley had, but thought was dismissed immediately when Luna said "So, tell us about you and Draco then?"

"I…" Harry stuttered.

"Oh come on!" Luna laughed at him "I saw your conversation outside the nursery this morning; you weren't talking about the weather."

As usual, Luna stung Harry's ears with her piercing truth.

"As a matter of fact," he said in his defense "We were only talking about the Ministry."

"What about the Ministry?" asked Luna.

Harry could've cursed out loud in the middle of the children's ward.

"Well… he works for LGBTW now." Luna looked discouragingly unsurprised.

"Look Ginny is your friend, Luna so I don't see why you would go around suggesting this stuff."

"The thing is Harry, I think that I like Ginny more than you do. I think a lot of people do."

"Well you haven't tried living with her have you?" Harry was angry with himself. He shouldn't really say that should he?

"Look," said Luna "All I want for you Harry is to be happy. You deserve it after everything you've done."

"I'm engaged Luna. I'm sorry; none of it's your fault."

She nodded meekly. "Come and pick James up next Wednesday okay? Ginny will love you for it."

And for some reason, Harry took a mental note that this is what he was going to do.

When Harry returned home early the next morning, almost asleep on his feet from medicating children and fighting to keep Draco thoughts at bay all night, James was having his nap and Ginny was lying on the bed looking, well, very pregnant. He lay down next to her and took her hand out of habit.

"How's Hermione?" he asked.

"Happy," Ginny replied "but she still can't track down her parents. It's getting her down a bit I think, but she'd never admit that."

"Did you remember to tell them I'm going there tomorrow?"

"Yes." She answered briskly, "Look Harry are you not going to ask how I am, I am pregnant you know."

God, thought harry, as if women weren't bad enough I get blessed with pregnant women.

He smiled sweetly "Of course! How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you for asking."

Harry detected sarcasm in her voice, but he wasn't in the mood for conversation. He rolled away from her and went to sleep with a frown on his face.


End file.
